She spent most of her career in Italy or with touring Italian opera companies and was particularly known for her performances as Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin and Margherita in Boito's Mefistofele.

[1][3] Bordalba was born in Barcelona and studied at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in her native city.

While there she sang in the opera Laura Debellan which Marià Obiols had composed especially for the students at the conservatory.

[4][1] In 1894, Bordalba appeared in Naples at the Teatro Mercadante where she sang the title role in the world premiere of Giordano's Regina Diaz[5] and at the Teatro San Carlo where she sang Marguerite in La damnation de Faust.

She was at La Scala in Milan in 1896, again singing Marguerite as well as Maria in Mascagni's Guglielmo Ratcliff.